Tony Romo is overrated. He’s a farce. He chokes in big games. He doesn’t care about football. He’s more interested in becoming a star than a championship quarterback.

It’s difficult to convince anyone of anything when these are their thoughts about your team’s quarterback; and I hear them each and every day.

Nevermind that he’s made three Pro Bowls. Nevermind that he’s No. 3 on the NFL’s all-time passer rating list, and No. 4 all-time in yards-per-pass. Nevermind that he just led your ‘Boys to their first playoff win in over a decade.

Now, Romo himself has said he’s not yet an elite quarterback (although I beg to differ), but that doesn’t mean he won’t become an elite quarterback. The great Peyton Manning didn’t win a playoff game until his sixth (sixth!) NFL season. I didn’t hear the Indy media calling for his head back then in 2003. When you’re the quarterback of America’s Team, though, expectations are a bit different.

Romo has already won a playoff game, but there’s no doubting the fact that now, in 2010 (technically 2011), he needs to advance (far) in the playoffs.

And what if he doesn’t? I’m not thinking about that right now. I have full confidence in the star-donning quarterback because I’m on Team Romo. Amber Leigh is on Team Romo. Are you?

The Evidence

I’ll admit it is easy to select a team’s quarterback as their most vital player–very few (perhaps zero) teams could still make a playoff run with their backup signal-caller at the helm.

Now I could try to impress you with Romo’s 4,483 yards or 26:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio, but the truth is, Romo just needs to do what it takes to win in 2010.

And he’s done that in the past, posting an incredible 38-17 record to date. Of course, as fans, we want playoff wins. We expect Romo to get to the playoffs. But let’s not forget that these expectations only result from our overwhelming confidence in Romo.

Did we expect the same for Quincy Carter or Chad Hutchinson? How about Ryan Leaf? Clint Stoerner? Drew Henson? How about the incomparable Brad Johnson, whose three-game stint in 2008 (should have) showed us how important Tony Romo is to the Dallas Cowboys.

With Romo, the Cowboys are one of the NFL’s best teams, possessing one of the most dangerous offenses in the league. Without him, they are mediocre. They are boring. They are the Washington Redskins. . .crap.

And, unfortunately, that’s the only way many fans appreciate Romo’s importance–by his absence.

Michael Irvin summed it up best when he said:

Can we get Drew Bledsoe back out here (for) just a week so you guys can really fall back in love with Tony? Let’s put Drew Bledsoe back out here, because sometimes when you have a pretty girl for awhile, you forget how pretty she is. But when you throw the ugly girl next to her, you say, ‘No, I’m really doing well.’ Maybe we need to bring Drew out so we know we’re really doing well.

Subtract any other offensive player from the Cowboys and the team will keep on rolling. Lose Doug Free or Marc Colombo to injury? Alex Barron can step in. How about a receiver? Well, that happened yesterday with the Dez Bryant injury, but the Cowboys will be fine. Andre Gurode and Jason Witten are incredibly important players without completely reliable backups, but their losses still wouldn’t be debilitating.

Losing Romo would be crippling to the Cowboys. Could they make the playoffs? Perhaps. Could they win a championship? Not a chance.

This time, let’s not wait for a Romo injury before we realize his importance. It’s easy to call for the backup when things aren’t going as planned, but true fans–the loyal ones–stick by their guy during times of adversity. On which side of the fence will you be this season if the ‘Boys stumble out of the gate to a 4-4 start? Will you be screaming for Kitna? Or will you support your quarterback, knowing he is the most vital piece to the home Super Bowl puzzle?